Justin Baldoni scores major victory in legal battle with Blake Lively | CNN

A federal judge tossed out Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims against her “It Ends With Us” director Justin Baldoni, roughly a month before the high-stakes trial was set to begin. The judge threw out 10 of the 13 claims in Lively’s lawsuit, leaving only three claims against defendants that don’t include Baldoni personally. In her civil complaint, Lively accused Baldoni, who also co-starred in the film, of sexually harassing her during the movie’s production and then orchestrating a smear campaign to retaliate against her for speaking up about the alleged mistreatment. Baldoni denied the allegations. In an order issued Thursday, District Judge Lewis Liman threw out the majority of the claims in Lively’s lawsuit, including sexual harassment and defamation. Some of the claims, including the ones involving sexual harassment, were nixed due to legal technicalities, such as Lively being considered an independent contractor rather than an employee — a point emphasized by Lively’s attorneys following the judge’s order. Out of thirteen claims, only three remain in the case: retaliation, aiding and abetting retaliation, and breach of contract. Baldoni is not a defend